Wikimore

English

Pronunciation

Audio (Southern England): (file)
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#DEADLANGUAGE

Noun

dead language (plural dead languages)Category:English lemmas#DEADLANGUAGE Category:English nouns#DEADLANGUAGE Category:English countable nouns#DEADLANGUAGE Category:English multiword terms#DEADLANGUAGE Category:English entries with incorrect language header#DEADLANGUAGE Category:Pages with entries#DEAD%20LANGUAGE Category:Pages with 1 entry#DEAD%20LANGUAGE

A language which no longer has any native speakers.
Synonym: extinct language

Coordinate term: living language
- 1799, Edward Dubois, A Piece of Family Biography, volume II, page 20:
  Supper being over, the lawyer took his leave, and the doctor began to ſound the learned clerk reſpecting his proficiency in the dead languages. "As to dead languages," replied the ſchoolmafter, "I was once a vaſt pretty ſcholar indeed, but want of exercise has made me main ſlack—I can't get over my ground as I uſed to do. Then as to the t'other dead fellow, I could never greek it at all, that's flat. And, Lord bleſs you! my Latin is of no more uſe to me here than—than—" Here he ſtuck for want of a ſimile; when Mr. Le Dupe helped him out by ſaying, "that it is to a young man at college, where it is conſidered a pedantic inſult, and an unpardonable bore, to utter a Latin ſentence."
  Category:English terms with quotations#DEADLANGUAGE

Usage notes

It is questionable whether e.g., Latin or Ancient Greek should be considered dead languages, because they truly never became extinct, as they evolved into the modern Romance languages and Modern Greek, respectively.

Translations

language with no native speakers

Category:Entries with translation boxes#DEAD%20LANGUAGE

Arabic: لُغَة بَائِدَة f (luḡa(t) bāʔida)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#DEADLANGUAGE, لُغَة مَيِّتَة f (luḡa(t) mayyita)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#DEADLANGUAGE, لُغَة مُنْقَرِضَة f (luḡa(t) munqariḍa)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#DEADLANGUAGE, لُغَة مُنْدَثِرَة f (luḡa(t) mundaṯira)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Azerbaijani: ölü dilCategory:Terms with Azerbaijani translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Basque: hizkuntza hilCategory:Terms with Basque translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Catalan: llengua morta fCategory:Terms with Catalan translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Chinese:
Mandarin: 死語言 / 死语言 (sǐyǔyán)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#DEAD%20LANGUAGE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#DEADLANGUAGE, 死語 / 死语 (zh) (sǐyǔ)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#DEAD%20LANGUAGE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#DEADLANGUAGE, 滅絕語言 / 灭绝语言 (mièjué yǔyán)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#DEAD%20LANGUAGE Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Dutch: dode taal fCategory:Terms with Dutch translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Esperanto: mortinta lingvoCategory:Terms with Esperanto translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Estonian: surnud keelCategory:Terms with Estonian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Finnish: kuollut kieliCategory:Terms with Finnish translations#DEADLANGUAGE
French: langue morte (fr) fCategory:Terms with French translations#DEADLANGUAGE, langue ancienne fCategory:Terms with French translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Galician: lingua morta (gl) fCategory:Terms with Galician translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Georgian: მკვდარი ენა (mḳvdari ena)Category:Terms with Georgian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
German: tote Sprache (de) fCategory:Terms with German translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Hungarian: holt nyelv (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Indonesian: bahasa mati (id)Category:Terms with Indonesian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Italian: lingua estinta fCategory:Terms with Italian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Japanese: 死語 (ja) (しご, shigo)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Kannada: ಸತ್ತಭಾಷೆ (kn) (sattabhāṣe)Category:Terms with Kannada translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Kapampangan: meteng amanuCategory:Terms with Kapampangan translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Kazakh: өлген тіл (ölgen tıl)Category:Terms with Kazakh translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Khmer: ភាសាស្លាប់ (pʰiesaa slap)Category:Terms with Khmer translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Korean: 사어 (ko) (sa'eo)Category:Terms with Korean translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Lithuanian: mi̇̀rusioji kalbà fCategory:Terms with Lithuanian translations#DEADLANGUAGE, mi̇̀rusi kalbà fCategory:Terms with Lithuanian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Norwegian: dødt språk nCategory:Terms with Norwegian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Polish: język wymarły mCategory:Terms with Polish translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Portuguese: língua morta (pt) fCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Romanian: limbă moartă (ro) fCategory:Terms with Romanian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Russian: мёртвый язы́к m (mjórtvyj jazýk)Category:Terms with Russian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Spanish: lengua muerta fCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Swedish: utdött språk nCategory:Terms with Swedish translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Tagalog: patay na wikaCategory:Terms with Tagalog translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Tamil: வழக்கிழந்த மொழி (vaḻakkiḻanta moḻi)Category:Terms with Tamil translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Turkish: ölü dil (tr)Category:Terms with Turkish translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Ukrainian: мертва мова (uk) f (mertva mova)Category:Terms with Ukrainian translations#DEADLANGUAGE
Vietnamese: tử ngữ (vi)Category:Terms with Vietnamese translations#DEADLANGUAGE

Wikimore

dead language

English

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Translations

Further reading